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Workers can face a range of dangers and problems while they’re at work. You can come up against health and safety issues, as well as interpersonal or security problems that could put you at risk in different ways. However, you can also take precautions to ensure you don’t run into trouble at work when it could be avoidable. Although you can’t prevent all problems from occurring, you can understand how to deal with them safely and put yourself in the best position. When you educate yourself about how to keep yourself safe at work, you’re empowered to protect yourself.
Take a look at some of these top ways to protect yourself when you’re working, whether it’s from a safety issue or a conflict with a colleague or manager.
Stay on Top of Health and Safety Knowledge
There are many different health and safety issues to consider in any workplace. Even in an environment like an office, where you’re probably not dealing with any heavy machinery, there are still safety issues to think about. Keeping your knowledge up to date is important and in some industries, it’s a requirement of keeping your license. Contractors who need to complete a continuing education course for their license can buy it from AtHomePrep and do it online. Your employer also has a responsibility to keep you safe. They should offer health and safety training and the right PPE to protect you.
Have a Written Contract
Many people don’t have a written contract for their job, but it can be one of the best ways to protect you when you’re at work. A written contract can set out things such as your work hours, pay, benefits, and your requirements and responsibilities. As well as telling you what obligations you have, such as how much notice you’re expected to give when you leave, it should also tell you what your employer is expected to do. If you’re not given a written contract, don’t be afraid to ask for one.
Know Your Rights
Every employee should know their rights under the law. It’s important to know whether you’re being treated fairly and when you might be able to use the law to protect yourself. There are both federal laws that you should understand and state or local laws that could also protect your rights. The Department of Labor website is one place where you can find out about your worker’s rights. Many people are not very familiar with the rights they have but you can put yourself in a much stronger position if you educate yourself about how the law does and doesn’t protect you.
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Set Boundaries
Setting personal boundaries at work can be an important way to protect yourself. Being able to say no to things that you don’t want to do can help to prevent people from taking advantage of you. You can set boundaries and still be a good employee, especially if you find the right employer and colleagues. Some things to consider might be making sure you’re not pushed to work more hours than you’re contracted for and avoiding having other people’s work passed onto you.
Report Inappropriate Behavior
One of the biggest issues you can have at work is conflicts with colleagues. If you find that a colleague is being inappropriate in any way, whether it’s bullying, harassment, or something else, taking care of it as soon as possible is important. Giving your employer a chance to correct the problem first is often a good step to take. However, if you don’t feel that you get the support that you want, sometimes the best thing to do is consider working elsewhere. It can be difficult to work in an environment with others who aren’t treating you fairly but your employer won’t always take the right steps to protect you.
Be Digitally Secure
It’s essential to be able to protect yourself in a digital world. Employers will often provide training for staff to make sure they keep everything secure while working, including keeping passwords safe and avoiding phishing emails. But it’s also important for you to pay attention to how to stay safe. This is especially true if you’re using any of your own devices or working from home. You need to protect your own devices and networks if you’re using them for both work and personal activities.
You need to know how to protect yourself at work so that you can stay safe. Your employer has a duty to protect you too, but you need to know what their obligations are.
